Snapshot: About One in Four Young Adults Use Marijuana

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- While 13% of Americans say they "regularly" or "occasionally" use or smoke marijuana, the rate is significantly higher among the 18 to 29 age group and is higher in the West than in other regions of the country.

Next, please say how often you currently smoke or use each of the following -- regularly, occasionally or never. How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

% Regularly/Occasionally

Marijuana

Cigars

Chewing tobacco

A pipe

%

%

%

%

National adults

13

9

5

4

Men

15

15

8

4

Women

11

3

1

2

18-29

24

8

7

6

30-49

13

11

5

3

50-64

11

11

3

3

65+

6

6

4

2

East

12

8

1

4

Midwest

10

8

8

2

South

11

9

5

4

West

20

9

3

1

Gallup, July 1-11, 2018

These data are from a July 1-11 Gallup poll, which also found that 9% of Americans regularly or occasionally vape and 20% regularly or occasionally smoke cigarettes.

Marijuana is most popular among 18- to 29-year-olds -- about one in four (24%) adults in this age group report regularly or occasionally using it. This is on par with an average 22% of 18- to 29-year-olds across three surveys from 2015 to 2017 who answered "yes" when asked whether they do, or do not, "smoke marijuana." In both the latest and previous questions on the topic, use of marijuana is progressively lower in each older age bracket. Meanwhile, one in five adults living in the West (20%), where all coastal states have legalized recreational marijuana, use marijuana regularly or occasionally, which is about twice as high as in the other three regions of the country.

Use of other products also varies across demographic groups.

Nine percent of Americans say they smoke cigars, a behavior that is much more common among men (15%) than among women (3%).

Few adults in the East (1%) or in the West (3%) use chewing tobacco, but the product is slightly more popular among Americans living in the South (5%) and the Midwest (8%). Meanwhile, just 1% of women say they use chewing tobacco.

Only 4% of American adults say they even occasionally smoke a pipe, and there is little meaningful variation in this behavior across demographic categories.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted July 1-11, 2018, with a random sample of 1,033 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 70% cellphone respondents and 30% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.